Glass Paintings?!

How on earth did I get into the business of painting on glass?  Well....

I married a pilot. Two weeks later he left me.
OK, it was basic training in the Airforce for 6 weeks but I was just 19 years old - too young to be a widow - and that's exactly how I felt!
Little did I know it would get worse...

After Pilot training he left me again to go to War. That's when I decided that sitting around waiting for him to entertain me was absolutely not working! I had to do something for myself.

Dried flowers in picture frames were popular at the time and I thought I could create the same look with oil paints and layers of glass to make them look three-dimensional.

​By the time Dave and I were reunited(at last!), I had established a unique painting business with just one employee - me!

• I cut and polished the glass
• I developed designs and patterns
• I purchased framing equipment 
• I ordered beautiful imported mouldings which I cut and mitered myself
• I also acted as my own sales rep visiting all the gift and interior design shops in my state. 
• And did I mention I was raising two little boys and the oldest was 2? (Irish twins - noun. A pair of siblings born 12 months apart).

My husband turned out to be amazing!!! He organized me as well as the business.

​We moved with the Air Force and in between his flying trips we went on selling trips to the big cities and beautiful stores. 

This brochure was hand written and the tag (lower left corner)
was attached to the back of each painting.

Soon we had a professional rep with his sales team sending us orders that we couldn't keep up with - so we hired help and my glass paintings took off into stores throughout the nation and up into Canada.

All this took place during the 1970's.

These glass paintings are now collector items. They continue to be unique  - frequently circling the internet. In recent years I have taken many of these paintings apart - cleaned, polished, remounted and reframed them. These are now worth multiple times their original value.

Butterflys in Grass

Arctic Owl

Morning Glories

Glass paintings were a great benefit to my entire career as an artist. The fine brush work it took to create these intricate paintings developed my technique for portraiture and the incredible detail required in creating a face. 

By the time my husband left the airforce for the airlines, we had two more babies and I was at the beginning of a flourishing portrait business which in the long run has been more enjoyable and rewarding.

I love people more than flowers, more than animals (a close second), more than trees (another close second) and more than landscapes. I love people!